Berkshire Gains as Buffett’s Coca-Cola Stake Rallies

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway
Inc., the largest investor in Coca-Cola Co. (KO), jumped the most
since January in New York trading on gains in the value of its
stake in the soft-drink maker.

Berkshire Class A shares rallied $4,000, or 2.6 percent, to
$161,000, a record closing price. Atlanta-based Coca-Cola surged
5.7 percent after posting first-quarter profit that beat
analysts’ estimates and announcing a deal to sell some bottling
distribution rights in North America.

Buffett’s firm has 400 million Coca-Cola shares, making it
one of the four largest holdings at Omaha, Nebraska-based
Berkshire, along with investments in Wells Fargo & Co., American
Express Co., and International Business Machines Corp.
Berkshire’s stakes in the companies may increase in the future
as the firms buy back shares, Buffett said in a letter to
investors last month.

“The four companies possess marvelous businesses and are
run by managers who are both talented and shareholder-
oriented,” Buffett said in the letter. “Too much of good thing
can be wonderful.”